Fire Emblem Three Houses - Spooky Ghosts in the Golden Deer House
by Okamilover1
Summary: Fire Emblem Three Houses fanfic. A spooky ghost haunts the monastery and terrorizes one of the students. So Byleth decides to find a way to help. Slight Byleth x Claude. Byleth x Lysithea ( platonic)


**Fire Emblem Three Houses Halloween fic - Spooky Ghosts of the Golden Deer **

\- ? -

Everything was calm in the beginning. Though the girls heart beat rose from being up to late. Time was one thing she couldn't waste. So the girl kept walking quickly. Trying to fight her fatigue. It was so dark. She was so tired. Shelves of books and their words seemed distorted.

Every noise. Ground shifting. Mice skittering around. Her bag of books hitting dully against her leg. This was a familiar routine. Studying until all hours of the night. Yet it was different. She was being watched. Something was chasing her. Or she was being paranoid.

Darkness. Darkness was usually her friend. She commanded it from her fingertips. Tonight it seemed different. Malice and bloodlust chasing after her.

The girls pace quickens, both her steps and her heartbeat.

It only seemed to grow colder. Darker. Their was the smell of blood. Of death.

Something struck her. Clawed into her. Cold and large and wet chasing her. Her death would come far too soon.

Her breath hitched. She turned. Magic flared up in her hands. To much to live for. Not enough time to die. She would not let herself die now

Darkness tore into darkness. A loud moan resonated in the library. The girls or the creatures? She wasn't sure.

She ran as fast as she could for as far as she could. Until the darkness swallowed her up again. Until she couldn't see anymore.

* * *

**Byleth-**

It happened one seemingly normal afternoon. A Sunday during the Wyvern Moon. Byleth was roaming around the monastery, then, seemingly out of nowhere, Lysithea came up behind her.

" Professor," she said in a shaky voice. Byleth turned around. " C-can we talk? Is now a good time?"

Was the cooling weather affecting her speech? Byleth wasn't sure. She nodded anyway.

" Not here, please um… in private. "

Lysithea's room is kind of a mess. The smell of blood and sweat were overwhelming. This wasn't an ordinary day anymore. Books strewn about all over the place. Her sheets balled up against her headboard. A pile of bandages and used concoction bottles were spilled out on the floor.

The white haired girls voice is quiet. Much less confident. Uncharacteristically so, Byleth noted. She sits down on her bed and almost curls up into a ball before extending her feet so that they hang off the side. She takes a breath and presses her lips together before finally speaking.

" I… Professor… You're...not," she seems to want to ask five things at once but she settles on.

" You don't think ghosts are real do you professor?"

Byleth watches her noticeably shaken up student for a few moments before giving a small nod. She knows that Lysithea is desperately afraid of ghosts but she feels saying anything about the matter will only make things worse.

" Did something scare you?" Byleth asks, pressing as gently as she can.

" I'm not afraid of ghosts you know," Lysithea sort of yells. " Only children have time for things like that. No. Yesterday I was out acquiring some more books for my studies and something attacked me! I… I fought back," the air seems to sizzle with the presence of dark magic.

" And I think I broke a bookcase but I couldn't tell because I was… getting into a better place to fight."

Lysithea stops to catch her breath. She sounds raspy and tired now.

" I didn't want anyone to think I was scared. I can pay for the bookcases but I… couldn't let anyone else know."

Byleth nods. " It's ok to feel scared."

"Professor, can't you see? It's not. Not for me anyway. People barely take me seriously as it is. And that thing might still be out there…"

" Whatever's out there… I'll protect you."

Despite the sadness on her face, Lysithea's eyes seem to sparkle. " Thank you probably! If its… not too much to ask… could you stay here until I fall asleep. I don't want to be tempted to go out there and break anymore bookcases.

Wordlessly, Byleth walks towards Lysithea's bed and sits down.

Time seems to pass quickly after that. Byleth hears the flapping of book pages for a while, then a quiet yawn. Not before long she hears a small thud on the bed.

But the professor stays the night just in case.

Byleth left with a crick in her neck and pain in her back. She had to get back to grading papers. But she didn't feel like it now. Curiosity had gotten the best of her. She wandered into the library, unable to shake the feeling that something could be wrong in the monastery.

Could ghosts be real? Byleth didn't think so even still. But it might reassure Lysithea if she checked to make sure.

In the back of her mind she could hear Sothis chattering away.

" You can't be serious?" The girl sighed.

" You should stop this foolishness at once. Surely you and your students should know that ghosts are not real."

" How would you know?," Byleth whispered through the darkness.

" Sometimes you just know these things, ok," Sothis grumbled.

" Her scars were real though."

" I suppose, but be quick about it. I don't want to be in this place all night."

The sun had gone down and fewer people walked around at night. Maybe the ghost would reveal itself now. If it would reveal itself at all.

Briefly, Byleth scanned the area. The broken bookcase had been discarded and in its place was a series of ropes and a sign that read, " careful, broken. "

" Be cautious, Sothis said. "Someone approaches. "

Byleth had a bad feeling. The floorboards creaked underneath her. In an instant she unsheathed her sword. Its yellow glow illuminating the hall.

She was greeted with a scream, well more of a muffled yelp. Her sword retracted, going back on her hip.

Claude came into her view, a strained look came over his face.

" Geez, Teach are you trying to kill me?"

" No," Byleth replied simply. "Sorry," If she had a heart she was sure it would be racing right about now.

" And what if you killed him and turned him into a ghost, " Sothis chided.

In stark contrast, Claude's features drifted from fear, bewilderment, to curiosity. Byleth could only stare back at him plainly.

" Well I'm glad you didn't attack me with your sword." He started to smile as if he hadn't almost been attacked seconds ago.

"But why are you wandering around in the middle of the night."

She owed him some answers. Yet Lysithea was already embarrassed enough as it was. And what Byleth was doing didn't exactly make sense to her.

Then the thought occurred to her. " What are you doing here in the middle of the night, Claude?"

" Ah," Claude hummed. " That's a good question, but I asked you first."

Byleth thinks that this whole situation is getting more and more complicated. People usually sighed in times like these.

" I was looking for ghosts," she says after a while. "

" Really?" Claude laughs.

Byleth nodded again and she can practically see the wheels turning in the back of his mind.

"You don't seem like the type to be interested in the occult."

He rubs the back of his neck.

"Hmm I see. Well I'd better be going then," Claude spins around in his heel.

Byleth steps forward. Again she calls. " Claude, what were you doing?"

" Hmm, I suppose you caught me. I was watching out for you."

" That's a fancy way of saying he was stalking you," Sothis laughs.

"But," Claude continues, " if you want to go on your mysterious monster hunting quest by yourself, Teach, then go for it."

Truthfully, Byleth wouldn't feel like doing this at all under normal circumstances. But she wanted to help Lysithea and ghost or not, she was going to do whatever she could to keep the young girl safe.

Then she thought of Claude again, standing right in front of her.

Claude who spiked Lorenz's tea. Claude who had Dimitri all but convinced that he'd lost a cat in the monastery and had him search for it. Who was always pulling pranks on people. Who purposely teased Lysthesia about her age.

Byleth's eyes narrowed slightly. Was the monster who was haunting Lysithea standing right in front of her.

No, Claude wouldn't do that, she told herself. He wouldn't hurt someone like that. She felt something. Maybe it was guilt for suspecting him. Yet the words fell out of her mouth anyway.

"Claude," Byleth repeated. " You haven't pranked Lysithea recently? "

He stared back at her. Not flinching, not dropping her gaze. " I can't remember doing anything recently."

His smile grew, the wheels in his head turning again.

Somehow she was relieved. Not that Claude wasn't above pranking others, he definitely wasn't but he wouldn't intentionally hurt his friends either.

" Is something spooky happening around here that I should know about?"

Byleth crossed her arms.

" You can't tell anyone," she responded quietly.

" My lips are sealed," Claude replied.

But it wasn't good enough. No, she couldn't do it here. Not with the assailant possibly out on the loose.

Byleth looked to her left and then to her right. She pulled Claude towards her and started to walk, quickly, to her room.

* * *

**Claude** -

Claude liked to understand things. He liked to think that he understood Byleth. She was stoic, nearly emotionless. Merciless to her enemies and kind to her allies. Still she was a mystery. So many things about her life made no sense.

She was strong, she welded the sword of the creator. He was glad she was his professor. What he didn't understand was why he was why she pulled him into her room in the middle of the night.

No, maybe he did understand. He understood all to well. His cheeks heated at the thought.

Claude found himself watching Byleth more and more. Wanting to be around her. He wanted to understand her, to look at her face and see her hard to detect differences in her expression. And not just as a means to make his vast dreams come true. He wanted to talk to her. She rarely spoke and when she did, it was always so calm and stoic. So relaxing.

Or maybe this was all a misunderstanding. It had to be.

They'd spent months together now and he still couldn't read her.

Byleth pulled something out of her drawer. She turned to him. His heart pounded in his chest. No, it'd been doing that for a while.

If only he had his professors gift for calmness.

Claude leaned against the wall, fighting the urge to panic. Forcing casual ease into his features. This was different then the aftermath of playing a prank on someone or sitting down at diplomatic meetings. Maybe if he'd had time to think about this. No, he'd thought about this particular situation on countless occasions in his own room. Actually, thinking about these things now would only make things worse now. He felt guilty, warm, dizzy for some reason. If Byleth didn't get on with it then he would. Or actually maybe he wouldn't considering he really hadn't decided what he was going to do.

" The truth is," Byleth started. He sucked in a breath.

"Lysithea was attacked by a ghost."

Byleth was strange, sure. No matter how far he thought he'd traveled with her, learned about her. She only grew stranger.

" What?" Claude asked, sighing a long tired sounding sigh.

"What.

" Well more like a monster."

Byleth's eyebrows knit together every so slightly. " It scratched her and drew blood and she's been afraid ever sense."

Claude frowned." And you thought I did that?" There's more exasperation in his voice then he wanted. But that's because he'd been holding his breath for the last minute.

Byleth quickly shakes her head. She doesn't say anything for a while, as if that answers everything. Then she says.

" I just want to be able to protect her."

Claude nodded back. Maybe Byleth's mannerisms were rubbing off on him. Though truth be told he wishes other parts of him would rub off on him.

" Teach," he yelled, half whispered, cutting off his own train of thought. If Byleth was surprised by Claude's loss of composure she didn't show it.

" Well, what if we could come up with a way to stop whatever this supposed monster is that's been attacking people and make sure Lysithea isn't afraid of ghosts anymore?"

Byleth nodded. Claude smiled.

" Then let's get to work."

* * *

Byleth laid out on her bed. When she stared at her reflection in her vanity, she could see the dark circles under her eyes had grown three sizes since yesterday.

She and Claude worked tirelessly through the night. Byleth still wasn't sure she knew what fatigue even was. But her bones ached and she spent a few extra minutes staring out into the distance.

" Are you certain this will work, " Sothis's voice carried through the silence.

Byleth nodded her head slightly..

" That's reassuring, " Sothis chided. " I hope you and that boy know what you're doing."

The day went by quickly. Teaching and studying and the worries of her fellow students and teaches carried her through the day.

At the end of Byleth's seminar, Claude gathered everyone together.

"Hey, Claude what's going on?" Hilda asked impatiently.

" Guys, there's something we need to do tonight."

Byleth watched Lysthesia who had managed to drag herself out of her room today. She stood up against the wall, touching her arm where the injuries were. She looked calm and she didn't speak but her eyes were afraid.

" Why do you assume that we do not have plans," Lorenz replied. " We cannot simply abide by your whims at the drop of a hat, Claude."

" Yeah, yeah I know, but I think you'll find this to be an important case." He paused, then leaned in and whispered. "There is a prowler on the loose, and we're going to catch them."

" A prowler," Ingnatz shouted. " What? How do you know?"

Claude shook his head, didn't so much at glance at Byleth or Lysithea who had turned the same shade as her hair.

Claude smiled. " Obviously I cannot reveal my sources." Though I believe we can catch them tonight."

The faces of the golden deer students ranged from disgusted to angry to fearful. Byleth heard Marianne whisper.

" If someone dangerous is prowling around at night then they need to be stopped."

"Ugh," Hilda groaned. "But can't we just let the knights take care of it?"

" We could," Claude replied. " but Seteth and Rhea and the knights are all busy. And if we catch them, their could be a reward."

" There could be cake!" Raphael said loudly. "

And anyways, we can't let some bad guy wander around our school." Leone growled. "We have to stop them."

Everyone nodded.

" I guess," Hilda shrugged. " If it's only one person I'm sure you guys can handle it though."

" The monastery is huge… and there could be more than one," Claude said. "What we need to do is split up and search around. You know, like in those mystery novels? The ones where the killer turns out to be a ghost."

" A what?" Lysithea shouted. Her eyes widened and she looked at Byleth who was glaring to the best of her ability at Claude.

" W-why would there be a ghost?"

" There wouldn't be," Hilda shrugged. " Because they aren't real."

Claude smiled. " So we're all in agreement.

"Yes" the group cheered. Aside from the angry looked Lysithea and the scared looking Marianne.

" Should we really be out of our rooms so late at night," asked Ignatz.

" Well, Teach will be with us so we'll be fine. And if it's to catch these prowlers, I'm sure Rheta wouldn't mind." Claude whispered. " So we'll meet up back here tonight?"

It was agreed.

Still. Lysithea looked at Claude with daggers in her eyes.

" Claude," she said angrily. " May I have a word with you?"

They went off somewhere together. She looked like she was about to tear him to pieces.

They all arrived at back in the monastery. Things seemed fine enough. Marianne and Hilda, Lorenz and Leonie, Ignatz and Raphael, they all went off on their own. Byleth went with Lysithea and Claude. Even though the white haired girl looked scared out of her mind, she still walked along.

" We'll be fine," Claude said at some point reassuringly.

Lysithea had wanted to light the place with her fire but then they'd alert the thieves to their presence. Or whatever it was that had hurt her.

It was dark. The monastery was the same at night, Byleth reminded herself. It was easy to believe that, and she did of course. But it was what most people would describe as creepy.

Black metal chandeliers dangled from the ceiling. Wind hit up against the windows. Branches swayed in the distance. A crisp chill ran through the hall, past the crackle of the candle fires it was cold. The stone floors seemed worse than usual and every step of carpet was a blessing.

Roaming around silently, without a real destination made the place look twice as large, the hallways twice as big.

They stopped just short of the library. They heard a noise. Floorboards creaked. Every step towards the books making the shadows grow larger. There was a bawling. A hissing.

The three of them stopped and hid behind a wall.

Lysithea's eyes grew three sizes. She clutched the side of the wall and gulped. Dark magic played over her finger tips.

The white haired mage had been terrified of ghosts. Now Byleth wondered if she'd kill the trespasser and turn him into one.

The voice they heard was low and wet. Claude gasped as he slung his bow over his shoulder.

" That's not a human, " Lysithea whispered angrily.

There was something there. Big, furry, dripping wet with blood. Byleth glanced over the wall to see its red eyes in the dim light.

The air was cold. Byleth had read somewhere that the air grew colder when ghosts were around.

She unsheathed her sword.

" It's not a ghost, " Claude whispered in a voice that was a mixture between fascination and fear. " Whatever it is, it doesn't sound friendly. "

" You think, " Lysithea groaned. " This is why I didn't want to do this."

"Attack on three, " Byleth's voice was calm and emotionless in contrast to her students. She held up three fingers.

But the beast charged forward without warning. Leaving a trail of blood behind it and a trail of salva in front.

Before Byleth could react, even use her divine pulse, the thing leapt on Lysithea. Lysithea's scream was defending. The thing growled on top of her.

Time stopped. In the back of her mind, Byleth could hear Sothis chide her.

Byleth's face was almost surprised.

The thing was a strange large cat. And it was licking Lysithea.

Time resumed and the three of them screamed.

Which made the cats ears go back. It jumped off Lysithea, her spell seemed to simmer off of her hands. The white haired mage jumped back against the wall, whimpering and holding hands in front of herself.

"Wait," Claude said holding up his hand. " Why is there a wounded lion in here?"

" You said it was going to be a bandit!" Lysithea yelled.

" Well you said it was going to be a ghost," Claude tried not to laugh.

Behind them, they could hear heavy breathing.

" A-a ghost," Lysithea huffed.

Behind them, a shadowy figure appeared, teeth chattering. A ghostly wail escaped their lips.

Byleth turned around and was greeted by the sight of tired eyes and stringy blue hair.

Someone else yelled. It was Marianne.

The strange large cat bounded to Marianne's side. She smiled and stroked the fluff of its neck. It made that loud growling like sound in her hand.

But her smile seemed to fade and turn sad. " I thought I told you to stay in my room."

" Marianne," Claude said. " It seems you also have your secrets. Why would you have a giant bleeding lion in your room?"

"Yes well, he can't take care of himself. He needs someone to heal his wounds and feed him while he's recovering."

Claude stretched his hands behind his back. " But that doesn't explain why he's with you."

Marianne shook her head. " He came to me so I had to help him."

" I guess a scary lion lurking around the halls is nearly just as sinister as a ghost."

Byleth nodded. Mystery solved.

" Marianne, you can't have a lion in your dorm. It's dangerous! It attacked me."

" I'm so sorry, Morty usually isn't a mean lion."

The lion seemed to agree with her. It pressed its body up against her knee.

Marianne looked at the ground sadly. " I was going to put him in the stables but I was afraid he'd scare the horses…. Or eat them. A hunter probably did this to him, but once he's well, I believe he'd like to go back into the wild again."

" Hmm," Claude said in a startled, moderately concerned voice. "Teach, what do you think of that?"

Byleth shook her head. " If you can keep that beast under control then it's probably fine."

"Oh," Marianne smiled slightly. Her eyes widened " Thank you professor."

Lysithea went to yell again but the sound of someone's footsteps approaching stopped her.

Claude shook his head and whispered. " You should probably get out of here.

"Oh," Marianne nodded again and pulled the lion to her side. "Let's hurry,0 Morty."

Just as Marianne started to leave, the sound of footsteps grew louder, closer, until an angry looking Seteth rounded the corner.

" What in the goddesses name is going on here?" He shouted.

Claude answered rather easily. " We were just looking for ghosts."

Seteth sighed. " Claude, I certainly don't want to ruin your budding interest in the occult. However there are more prudent ways to express those interests then sneaking around in the middle of the night with your class. If that was really what you were doing…"

Claude nodded. " Yes, well thanks for the advice, Seteth. Your right we should be getting back to our rooms."

And just like that, they all left the library. The strange mystery of ghosts and lions and bookcases behind them.

* * *

_Happy Halloween y'all! This is my first time writing three houses characters and I love most of them and its such a good game! So if you can support it then please do. Whenever I try to write horror it turns out really goofy but I'm glad I wrote it _

_Comments, likes, follows and shares are highly appreciated! (: _


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